Melissa Lee
Auckland, September 19, 2024
Open-Ed
There is a number I have been quoting a lot recently: $64 billion.
According to the Waitakere Ethnic Board, that’s how much ethnic communities contributed to New Zealand’s economy in 2021 (the total economy that year was worth $325 billion).
It is a significant contribution. And in a time when we are looking to rebuild our economy, we need to be looking at the success factors behind the sizeable impacts that New Zealand’s ethnic communities are having on the economy – and what we can be doing to harness further potential from these communities.
In fact, that is one of my top priorities as Minister for Ethnic Communities. It is also what the inaugural Ethnic Xchange Symposium, coming up on Friday, October 11, 2024, is all about: unlocking the full potential of ethnic businesses for the benefit of New Zealand. The symposium will bring together Government Ministers, the private sector, and other leading figures in business to explore how ethnic businesses can further lift our economic performance through trade, innovation, and investment.
As readers of Indian Newslink have known through my columns over the years, I believe in championing the success and opportunities that New Zealand’s ethnic communities can deliver for the New Zealand economy, whether it is through finding better, innovative ways of doing business or the cross-cultural ties they share.
Please watch the interview below with Melissa Lee recorded on July 17, 2024.
What ethnic businesses bring to New Zealand’s economic landscape
It does not surprise me that ethnic communities make such a significant contribution to New Zealand’s economy when you consider the unique and valuable assets they bring.
Firstly, from a purely demographic standpoint, New Zealand’s ethnic communities continue to grow – they are the fastest-growing population in New Zealand, tripling in size since 1996. Asian people are expected to make up 26% of New Zealand’s total population by 2043. Our country’s migrant employment rate is also the highest within the OECD.
Ethnic communities in New Zealand have valuable connections around the world and unique insights into their home countries, which can help supercharge our economic growth. This was a point that really hit home for me while I was on the Prime Minister’s recent trade mission to Malaysia and South Korea – before you attempt to enter a new export market overseas, it is important you do your homework and come up with a solid plan.
Take Malaysia, for example, where the cultural differences between the main ethnic groups – the Malays, Chinese, and Indians – are so distinct that it is just not enough to go in with just one sales strategy to cover everyone. The diversity in this one country means marketing products such as meat or alcohol requires a nuanced, rather than a one-size-fits-all, approach.
When you are thinking of growing in this market, what better advisor to have on your side than someone right here in New Zealand who comes from, or has direct experience, in this country?
Add to this the other benefits that ethnic diversity brings to New Zealand’s economy – greater access to international markets, unique perspectives, innovation, creativity, and a wider talent pool – and it is easy to see there is a lot of untapped potential to explore.
Challenges and barriers remain
It is not all plain sailing for ethnic businesses in New Zealand though – and the symposium aims to start conversations on addressing these as well.
These often centre around barriers relating to regulations, immigration, and accessing information. The challenges some ethnic businesses have around accessing finance, cultural differences, bias, and not having overseas experiences and qualifications recognised are well known.
That is part of the reason why I say there is untapped potential in ethnic businesses because they often cannot fully contribute to our economy, although they want to. The symposium will look at how we tap into this potential for the benefit of New Zealand.
It is a team effort
At the end of the day, we are all in this together, and the symposium is built on the principles of partnership and collaboration. It will be a day of bringing the Government, the private sector, and ethnic businesses to the table to explore how we can work together to unlock the potential of ethnic businesses to rebuild our economy.
There will be panel discussions, workshops, and plenty of networking, culminating in what is set to be a fantastic day of learning. Following the symposium, I look forward to debriefing with the Ministry for Ethnic Communities and identifying what further actions I, and the Government, can take – so I am keen to engage with and hear from a wide cross-section of the ethnic business community.
I hope to see you at Ethnic Xchange on Friday, October 11, 2024.
For more information and tickets, go to https://ethnicxchange.org.nz/
Melissa Lee is the Minister for Ethnic Communities in the current New Zealand Parliament. The above article is an Op-Ed sent to Indian Newslink for publication.
